It is with a heavy heart that directors at the beloved arts venue CICCIC in Taunton, are warning it could face closure within 12 months due to a considerable funding gap.
In the 12 years that CICCIC (a not-for-profit org) has been offering community connections through arts and culture, it has never been funded for its core activities. We’ve been through austerity cuts, nearly 2 years of closure during the pandemic, yet have continued to survive by dedicating our personal finances, which are now exhausted, and we need financial support if we are to continue the work we do at CICCIC, Arts Hub (Flook House) and in the community.
The reasons behind the need for financial support include us still suffering from the financial impact of COVID, the loans we had to take on to survive, and like many suffering from high utility fees. Additionally, our financial reserves are all dried up and we are facing potential closure. To rectify this situation, we need to raise £30k+ before the end of 2024.
Andrew Knutt, Director
There are many ways to help us and we are appealing to everyone to help keep CICCIC open no matter how large or small your contribution. Simply select one or more of the options below:
Attend our public meeting to learn more and ask questions. Click the image below for more info.
Why Support Us?
There is so much we have done in the community and for the arts and culture sector, and the best way to understand why your support is essential we produced the video below only 4 months ago.
Ironically, in 2023 CICCIC won ‘Best Community Arts & Culture Venue 2023′ – South West England’ Award and have won others over the past 4 years. On March 5th 2024, the Mayor of Taunton, Councillor Nick O’Donnell presented Creative Innovation Centre (CICCIC) with a Certificate of Thanks in recognition of its contribution to the creative and social well-being of Taunton.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why aren’t you funded like other art centres?
There are several reasons why we aren’t funded, and they include:
- We are an independent venue and unlike council owned venues that are usually funded by councils we can’t get the same type of funding. This coupled with the recent financial issues by Somerset Council has meant they have pulled all funding. Taunton Town Council has been able to support creative projects through its small grants and youth grants, and is intending to set up a core funding programme, but that programme could take time to establish, is designed for all of Taunton and not just us, and it could be too late for us by the time it is established.
- Funding is often for projects and not for core costs. For example, in the past we have been funded to deliver a range of workshops but the funding will only pay for the workshops. It won’t pay for ongoing core costs. Funding often does not fund existing activities either. The same applies to large funding bodies like Arts Council England. Many of them will fund projects but not core costs such as rent, staff, utilities, etc.
Can you explain more about the financial situation?
It costs around £70,000 a year to open the doors at CICCIC and that is without its staff costs or fees we pay to artists. Add these on top and it costs around £170,000+ a year. The good thing is that we own almost everything in the building, but do have debts due to the loans we had to take on to survive the 20 months closure during the pandemic. These debts are around £30k. If we could get rid of these debts the future would be more secure for CICCIC.
Directors Andrew Knutt and Richard Holt have also loaned the company money from their own personal finances over the past 12 years and though this is not uncommon in business, the result today has meant that their own personal finances have now exhausted and that is why we are appealing for donations and other forms of assistance.
How did CICCIC get into this position?
In business cashflow is king. Having cash at hand to operate is key to success. However, last year we had several months of low trading income (due to many reasons e.g. cost of living crises changing people’s buying habits) and there were no grants to apply for. This meant that money we took in for one month was spent on bills from the months before. Do this for a few months and it reduces cashflow and incurs debts that we are now suffering from. But if we can raise £30k by 2025 we should be back on track and be able to move positively towards the future.
Will the local council help?
We contacted Taunton Town Council in December 2023 explaining the situation and asked for help. They explained that their budgets were dedicated and it would be hard, but they may be able to help with £10k before the end of January 2024, but this has not happened. They are working hard on trying to find funds, but one must remember that not all councillors see the value in arts and culture and each councillor gets a vote. That is why it is important to send a letter to your councillor.
The council is aware of our predicament and acknowledge our contribution to Taunton’s arts, culture, and social wellbeing. The problem we have is that we need financial support now, but the rules and regulations they are bound by are preventing them from helping us, even though they do have money. We also said they can help in April/May time with some form of grant but this hasn’t happened, but as we wait more debt is incurred and likelihood of closure becomes more imminent.
Have you applied for any grants?
We do and have applied for funding as projects can help bring income in. But applying for these can take time and money to apply for and not always guaranteed. We’ve been successful over the years but this funding marketplace is very competitive.
For example, here are some funding applications we have done in the past 6 months:
• Heritage England (shirts, cider and music) £18,960.00 – Unsuccessful
• Awards for All (clubs for youth and old people) £17,490.00 – Unsuccessful
• HPC (Hinckley) mental health £9,100.00 – Unsuccessful
• The Fore (business development) – £30,000 – Unsuccessful
• Scope Arts Trust (Cultural Rural Outreach) £20,120 – Unsuccessful
• National Lottery Diverse Communities Stage 1 (to unite and support refugees, migrant communities, LGBTQ+ through culture) £54k – unsuccessful.
• Total £149,760
In January 2024 we applied for a grant from Arts Council England (ACE) for £29k and also explained our potential closure if we didn’t get help, but we were informed on 21st March 2024 that they would not fund us.
So, you can see that we have been proactive with grants and will continue to look for funding opportunities.
What will the £30k do to help CICCIC?
This will help pay debts that we have such as back rent for the building and loans that we have, it will also allow us to invest in staff which is much needed. Therefore, in summary the £30k will reduce our monthly outgoings which means we can build back our cashflow and become more financially resilient in the future.
To be honest we would like to raise more than this as there are improvements to be made, such as better seating and making good areas of the building.
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